Backhoes and excavators are widely used in the construction industry but are only able to be used to perform digging and earth moving functions with limited ability to securely transfer other objects, such as rocks, debris, drainage pipes and the like.
Purpose-built bucket structures have been proposed for increasing the versatility of buckets used in the construction industry by incorporating an additional jaw which is hydraulically manipulated to open and close the bucket structure. Examples of such proposals will be found in AU-A-61889/94, W095/02095 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,147. These proposals are complex and therefore expensive and they limit the use of the bucket in its normal manner.
Purpose-built grapples have also been proposed for lifting objects such as logs, pipes, rocks and the like, and an example of such a proposal is found in AU-A-62438/80. While such grapples are able to function in transferring the above types of objects, they can only be used for these purposes and cannot be used to perform normal backhoe and excavator functions.
Since backhoes and excavators are widely used, it would be an advantage to provide a means by which the buckets of such equipment may be converted to provide a grab or "grapple" function which does not inhibit the usual backhoe and excavator bucket functions.